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Article: Bloodsuckers to the rescue!(BIOSCIENCE)
- Article from:
- South Florida CEO
- Article date:
- August 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 CEO Publishing Group, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The next time a vampire comes at you, you might want to drop your wooden stake and put away the garlic. Vampires--well, vampire bats, actually--could save your life if you have a stroke. Bethesda Memorial Hospital in Boynton Beach is testing a new clot-busting drug genetically engineered from a compound found in vampire bat saliva. The drug, desmoteplase, has a major advantage over current stroke treatments: it is effective up to nine hours after the stroke, whereas current drugs must be given within three hours. "That can make a geometric ...